Benji's Dream
by avngstories
Summary: Benji has a weird dream and wakes up on an aircraft carrier. He finds that his skillset is appreciated here. But when he is asked to go back in the field, will Benji have the courage? Features Clint Barton, Natasha Romanoff, Maria Hill, and Nick Fury.
1. Chapter 1

December, 2008

Benji blinked as the bright lights of the room flooded his pupils. It wasn't a big room, maybe 12x12, and just a table with 4 chairs. His head was on a table. It felt heavy. His head, not the table. But it looked heavy too.

"Hello, Mr. Dunn." Came deep voice from the corner. The lights didn't hit that side of the room, and a tall man dressed in black stepped forward, suddenly revealing himself.

Benji sat up, scared out of his mind. Shit. This was it. He was toast.

The man sat down, showing his full face. OH SHIT. He had a freaky eye patch over his left eye with deep scars radiating out from the eye socket. This was just about the scariest person he had ever seen. Then he spoke. The voice was even scarier. "Mr. Dunn, you were recommended by some friends in Washington."

"R-r-recommended for what?" Benji cringed.

"You've been transferred to another agency." Said the man in black as he leaned back in his chair and smiled.

"W-w-what agency?" he didn't really want to know.

"SHIELD. It''s probably not a name you've heard of."

"No. No. I don't think so." He said, shaking his head. "Are we still in the United States?" he asked, hoping to hell they were, because at least they didn't allow torture in the U.S.

"At present, we're in a warehouse at a harbor in Maine."

"Maine?" He gasped. "When? How? How did I get to Maine?"

"I had a team bring you in under sedation. Sorry about that. When the ship gets here, we'll fill you in on what you need to know, Benji. I can call you Benji, right?" he asked, almost friendly. Almost.

"Uh huh, call me Benji." He stuttered again. Thinking that of course there was ship coming. What with the pirate thing going on and all… Wait. This was just a dream. Some kind of weird dream. It make sense…

"So, Benji." The pirate began "You seem to have made a name for yourself as a tech expert. We can use an agent like you."

Benji decided to play along with the pirate. Maybe it would help him wake up faster…"I –I'm not an agent sir. I'm not sure what they told you, but I didn't qualify as an agent." He hung his head.

The pirate smiled. "I look for different qualities in my agents, son. Smarts, problem solving, courage. We'll teach you the other skills, don't worry."

Benji swallowed hard. "They tried that. Didn't work out so well." He confessed.

The tall man stood up. "The IMF wouldn't know how to train a dog, Dunn." He declared, saying IMF like it tasted bad. "You work for me now, got that?"

Yep, this was a dream! Benji looked up at him. Was this pirate dude being nice? No, he must be imagining it, but he couldn't help but think that the man was serious. He nodded "Yes sir, but sir?"

"Yes, Dunn?"

"What's your name?" Benji squeaked

The tall man held out his hand. "Nick Fury, Agent Dunn. My name is Nick Fury."

Interesting name for an imaginary pirate, though Benji.

Fury chuckled and walked to the door. "You'll do just fine here Dunn." He said, and opened the door. A woman was standing in it. "This is Agent Hill. She will tell you what you need to know. And Dunn, I don't recommend disobeying her. Got it?" he questioned.

Benji gasped at the direction his dream had taken. The pirate had been replaced by a super model in a ninja outfit. He looked at her, hoping the dream might last a little longer…

"Dunn? Your name IS Benji Dunn, right?" she was asking.

"Huh, what?" he stumbled. "Yes, call me Benji."

"Follow me Agent Dunn." She commanded and turned out the door. Yep, women even dismissed him in his dreams, he thought.

He stumbled out after her, "You're a pretty ninja, ya know that?" he drooled.

She spun around while touching a comm in her ear. "Sitwell!" she yelled. "How much sedative did you give this new r and d idiot?"

"Uh, just the standard, Agent Hill." He quickly replied, really hoping she wasn't going to blame him for whatever had just happened.

"Well, get down here and help me with him because he's tripping." She snapped in exasperation.

Sitwell hurried down from his position at the end of the wharf. He arrived a minute later to find Maria Hill trying to fight off the advances of the rather geeky looking tech guy that Fury had ordered picked up. Yes, she was definitely going to blame him for this.

Fighting back laugher –that would NOT be good- he pulled Dunn off of Hill and helped him walk along the dock, towards the boat they used as a transport ferry. "Sorry, man. But you don't want to go THERE. Trust me." Said Sitwell.

"But, but, she's the ninja of my dreams?" Benji whined.

Sitwell hid his chuckle from Hill, who was stalking slowing behind them. "More like a nightmare, man."

"It's my dream, I think she's nice." Continued Benji.

"Not a dream, dude. This is not a dream."

"But what about the pirate?" asked Benji.

Sitwell almost stumbled at that one. He heard Hill chuckling behind him. Good, at least he could laugh now, because it was about to bust out of him.

"Dunn, you're a riot. Just don't say pirate too loud, ok?"

"Is it a secret?" stammered Benji

By this time, Hill had stepped forward to help Sitwell get Dunn in the boat. "Yes, it's a secret." She whispered to him. Sitwell started convulsing in laugher. But Hill kept a straight face. She looked at  
Sitwell, "Just get him to the carrier, ok." she snapped. He nodded in obedience.

He was face down again. This time he was lying on cot of some sort. He heard mumbling in the background.

"Atif! Greg! Who the hell is that?" snapped a male voice.

One programmer spun around to look at the lump lying on the cot. "Dunno boss, Darth Hill and her storm troopers dropped him off about 30 minutes ago." Said Greg with a bored tone.

"And he's been out since then?" questioned Gunderson.

"Yep." Said Atif, without looking up from his monitor.

"Well, did SHE at least leave papers or something?"

Greg nodded to Gunderson's desk. The older man reached for them. He skimmed over most it, but his eyes landed on the resume. "Oh, so this is the RF expert they promised me."

Atif and Greg exchanged looks. "Yeah, a newbie" said Greg sarcastically.

"This guy's not a newbie. He's been transferred in." Gunderson walked back out the room. "Come find me when he wakes up."

"Sure thing, boss" said Atif with a mock salute. He was still looking at his monitor.


	2. Chapter 2

Benji managed to raise his head up. He was in a computer lab of some sort. He moaned at the pain in his head.

"Hey dude, that stuff they gave you can be a bitch. Better stay down a while longer." Said someone from across the room.

"W-where am I now?" he mumbled. All he could see were walls of monitors.

"Level 3, room 12." Came the reply. "Hey boss?" someone questioned into an intercom. "Newbie is up,"

"Be right there." Came an older voice from a speaker.

The next thing Benji knew, a middle aged man with little hair and wire rim glasses was peering over him. "Rolf Gunderson, Director of SHIELD Research and Development. Nice to meet you Agent Dunn." He said while grabbing Benji's hand to shake it.

Benji managed to sit up and get a better look at room. Metal. Everything was metal. An air craft carrier, maybe?

"I suppose you would like to hear about our work here?" he asked enthusiastically.

"A-And where is here, exactly?" Benji asked.

"Why, the SHIELD mobile base, of course. Not for long, you know, the new ship is almost ready, but this old girl has served us well. Didn't they brief you?"

Benji shook his head. Uh, oh. It wasn't a dream. He really was on ship. The older man pursed his lips and folded his arms. "They just took you, didn't they?" he said, shaking his head.

Benji nodded, "I think I was a little out of it." he confessed.

"Well, follow me then Agent Dunn, and we'll take the tour, shall we?"

Benji stood up and carefully moved forward, not sure walking around was the best idea.

"Maybe we should head in the direction of the mess hall and get some coffee." Asked the older man, laughing.

"Thank you." Coughed out Benji as he followed the man in the blue lab coat out the door.

"Atif? Greg?" asked Gunderson with a fatherly tone, "Can we make some room for our new agent, please." He said while motioning to a work station piled high with equipment. He disappeared out the door with his clueless new charge shuffling behind.

"oooo, an AGENT" Benji heard someone say sarcastically before the door closed.

_Great_, thought Benji. _Just great._

It was definitely an air craft carrier, or at least it had been at one time. Benji figured it was best to keep his mouth shut for now. For every one person in a lab coat, there were three in uniform. This was a military operation, no doubt about it.

Gunderson was shuffling along, muttering about the purpose of each room they passed. It was an impressive set up. Every piece of equipment was state of the art, and some it looked to be prototypes that would make a MIT researcher envious.

They came to an intersection of corridors. Benji was looking down one hall when Gunderson pulled his arm.

"Not THAT way, Dunn!" he scolded. "If it has a dark blue stripe, DON'T enter it." and he shuffled on.

Benji nodded in obedience. After what seemed like minutes, they came to another junction. "Now, here we are. Mess hall!"

The dining hall was brightly lit, unlike the rest of the ship. Clearly, updated through the years, it looked almost civilian. It was maybe half full of people, some waiting in line for food, and some sitting at table chatting together. Benji followed Gunderson to the coffee station and nearly downed his cup before they even found a seat.

Benji leaned forward to the man, "Thank you very much for the hospitality, sir. But could you please tell me why I'm here?" he pleaded.

Gunderson duplicated Dunn's movements and leaned in as well. He removed his glasses, revealing a piercing gaze. "We only take the best, Dunn." He said, all traces of his previous joviality gone. Benji sat back and put his hands behind his head. So, the mad scientist bit was just an act.

"So no one at the IMF minds that I won't be showing up for work today?" asked Benji.

Gunderson smirked. "When it comes to equipment or personnel that are in short supply, SHIELD gets top priority. Always."

Benji knew he had nothing to lose at this point, because, for some reason, these goons wanted him here. "And what does SHIELD do, exactly?" he said softly.

"SHIELD monitors and protects the world from all types of threats."

"On whose authorization?" Benji questioned again, wincing a bit. Not sure he wanted to know the answer.

Gunderson smirked again, impressed at Dunn's ability to figure things out so quickly. "Like I said, SHIELD gets top priority."

Benji nodded. "Mind if I get some more coffee?"

"Not at all" smiled Gunderson. "I have to check on an experiment." He said, rising. "Stay here until I come back for you, then?" he chirped. The congenial scientist had returned.

Benji nodded again. There was no way in HELL he wanted to wander around this place alone.

Benji took the opportunity to cautiously observe the other people in the room. The ratio of lab coats to uniforms seemed the same. And in just like every other cafeteria in the world, it was segregated. Uniforms sat with uniforms. Lab coats huddled together on the far side of the room. The airmen seemed to have a table of their own. There was also a table of suits, but they didn't seem to talk to each other. Benji noticed another suit walk in and go for the coffee station. He had "head suit" written all over him. Yep, tailored blue suit, blue shirt, blue tie. Benji wondered if Langley had a secret cloning facility or something, because those guys ALWAYS looked the same.

So, this place was a Frankensteinish combination of Navy, DARPA, and CIA. Benji shook his head to himself. How did he manage to get himself into these situations? Benji was looking at the floor, thinking of how he might manage to get out of this new 'assignment' when a pair of black shoes appeared. He looked up, right into the gaze of the Head Suit. How in the hell did those people move so silently?

"You must be Benji Dunn?" said the man pleasantly. He offered his hand. "The name is Coulson."

Benji shook his hand and looked at him ruefully. Coulson looked around and upon realizing that Dunn was alone, his gaze narrowed.

"Gunderson will be right back." Offered Benji. "He told me to stay here, and that's what I'm doing." He hurried on, sitting on his hands.

Coulson's expression didn't change. "Of course, Dunn, you'll meet with me a later time, after you've settled in." He looked at his watch. Benji was about to mention that he hadn't been past the labs or mess hall, let alone settled into any living space- assuming he wasn't just getting a bunk and trunk – when Coulson turned to walk away.

Coulson passed Gunderson in the doorway as he left. Gunderson shot him a wary look and stepped back in deference. Coulson didn't acknowledge him. Gunderson took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. He hoped to hell that this guy Dunn was going to work out, because Rolf Gunderson really needed Phil Coulson to stop being pissed off. He really did.


End file.
